“Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the kings enemies whereby the people fall under thee.”  (Psalm 45:5).

Why does the Psalmist employ the metaphor of arrows and war?  It is because Christ is the ultimate conqueror!  Does that startle you about Jesus Christ?  How can he be the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) and at the same time be “a man of war” (Exodus 15:3). Christ “is Faithful and True and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” (Rev. 19:11).  This is not war like we see in the world today. He does not use man made weapons, nor is he interested in real estate since he has a rightful claim to own all the earth (Ps. 24:1; Isaiah 66:1-2).  But he chooses on conquering the human heart and he uses spiritual arrows.

The scriptures use the picture of warfare because the bloodiest fighting  in all history was waged upon Mount Calvary where Jesus died for sinners (1 Tim. 1:15)!   The Bible says, “His “robe is dipped in blood and his name is the Word of God” (Rev. 19:13)! The living personified Word of God proclaims his sacrifice for sin, in the symbol of “his robe dipped in blood.” In war the enemies blood is spilled, but in this war Christ spilled his blood and became victor. The blood stained banner of the Cross is the flag of victory.  There is not a day that goes by where The Son of God whose  does not engage the human heart and mind to win it to himself and save them from destruction. No one comes to Christ easily! 

The Lord Jesus Christ fights in a sitting position (Ps. 110:1)  to save those in danger of losing their eternal souls  and he exacts justice upon those who stubbornly refuse to change (Isa. 42:13). In the time in which we live, Christ redemptively subdues the hearts of the men and women of this world. He will overthrow sin through the message of gospel. The Bible states that he waits expectantly until his foes become his footstool and his worst, his most hated enemy will be saved for the final coupe de grâce –death (1 Cor 15:25-26; Heb 10:13). 

The Bible says that these arrows “are sharp.“  They are not blunt but exact, precise and intentional. They are able to cut through the excuses of people by razor sharp grace and power.  Through the teaching of the scripture the Spirit of Christ shoots down the root issues of argumentation, twisted thinking and barriers to the truth of God. The minister of the gospel acts like a  “crossbow” preaching the cross of Christ and he  launches the message of the gospel out of the quiver (the case that holds arrows) of the scripture. 

How important it is that the preacher must have weight in his message and force in his words! He has an incredible arsenal at his disposal-in the word of truth, the scriptures. The pastor must be like Jonathan and shoot arrows that send a precise message (1 Sam 20:18-42)! When someone begins to understand the Cross they will be cut to the heart with its truth.

When a courageous man preaches the message of the cross it is a gospel arrow that is shot into the deepest part of a person as the only means to awaken and regenerate that dead soul. You will know when a man is preaching the scripture by its character and disposition. It is a two edged sword (Heb 4:12) and God asks,“Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?”   If it is not like that, it is not the Word! Look, the human heart is not a soft target. The heart is so hard before it comes to Christ it must be struck hard by a gospel hammer in order to be broken. The heart is so rigid it must be melted by fiery preaching.  The gospel is an act of compassionate aggression to fight for those who are “against themselves” and oppose their own spiritual welfare and salvation (2 Tim 2:25). Oh,  I pray that if you do not know Christ as Savior and Lord that the Spirit of God would slay the bondage of sin in your life by the power of his word!

The problem with many preachers today is that they want to do not want to cause any pain in the hearts of people by the scalpel of the word so they medicate them with messages that numb their symptoms. Let us weep in prayer before God and ask his mercy that the Holy Spirit would not only operate in our church gatherings but perform operations on the hearts of those who hear the man behind the pulpit and the remove the malignant sin that has killed them and regenerate their souls that they might repent of sin and turn to God. “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.” (Hosea 6:1NIV).

They are also shot “in the heart of the King’s enemies.”  Who are these targeted enemies?  People who do not know Christ are called the enemies of God and are hostile to God and prove it by their thinking and actions (Col 1:21).  The worldly mind hates God (Rom 8: 7). Christ loves these enemies, like Saul of Tarsus, who was rushing headlong to destruction (Acts 9),  he must stop them by Sovereign Grace and this involves the launching of these Divine arrows!  He shoots at close range and the arrow strikes with force that is point blank and they enter into the very core of the human being.  Sinner interrupted! He aims a spined arrow that cannot be easily removed! Oh how people need to be convicted of sin, struck through with the sharp arrow of the accurate gospel as Charles Spurgeon says, “Whether for love or vengeance, Christ never misses aim, and cause{s}… a wound which only he can heal.” 

“Whereby the people fall under thee.“   Christ causes people to fall. His message brings fallout. There are those, how sad, of whom the Bible says, that Christ is “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.” (1 Pet. 2:8).  Oh, how fearful it is to fall into the hands of the living God! And there are those who will fall in line with Christ, who will be enlisted by his call to follow him as disciples of Christ.

But Christ’s arrows will cause people to fall. He is Lord of heaven and earth and how ominous are his words in the Gospel of Luke, “Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” (Luke 20:18). Those who come must be broken of all their ideas, all their rebellion, they must be regenerated and given new life and God will be near to them as they repent and are contrite in spirit. But others will have the stone fall upon them and will be crushed! Oh I am sorry for you if you do not repent of your sins! Christ can by no means clear the clear the guilt of those who refuse to embrace Him as Lord of everything! They will be crushed to dust and blown away by the wind like stubble! Eternity is a moment away, will you not turn to Christ for salvation?  Is the arrow he has launched into you, stinging with pain enough to make you turn to him for healing?

 Christ comes into the human heart and exposes the real enemy: sin and then he shoots at it by the message of the cross! The arrow causes the human soul to seek the forgiveness and deliverance of Christ from a life dominated by sin as if it were a lethal disease that he needs to be cured from.  They must go to Jesus by whose wounds they can be healed (Isa. 53:5).

“For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.” (Isaiah 66:16).  There is the fire of God for condemnation and the fire of the Spirit for sanctification. There is a sword that brings salvation and there is a sword that brings damnation. No matter, in the end God will get the glory! Either your old life will be slain and you will be given a new life or you will be slain in the “second death” of the Lake of fire! Christ never misses those he aims at whether for salvation or damnation.

The message of the cross of Christ is the most sharp instrument that demonstrates the love and justice of God (Rom. 3:25-26; 5:10).  When Christ and his accomplishments are lifted up he draws with irresistible grace all those he effectually calls!  Obviously, it is threatening when we see Christ shooting at people!  It may be seen by some in an negative light because Christ shoots in justice against sin, but if we understand it  in terms of God bringing back to life the human spirit and saving their soul from eternal hell it is good news!  Whether people seem near to coming to Christ or far from God as they can it does not matter! Be encouraged and warned! No one is out of his range and you are never far from his reaching, saving hand! But sin no more unless a worse thing comes upon you and you fall unable to recover.